EXPAND TO READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 5 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 9): I have struggled with this verse quite a bit since coming to faith. I feel like I often am representing and pleasing You well when I am around other followers, such as at church, but I do often wear a “second mask” when I am not around other followers. In this verse, You tell me to be pleasing to You both at home and away. I have failed at this many times since coming to faith. I have gotten better as of late, but I am still not where I think You want me to be. Please forgive me for my immaturity and mask-wearing, Father. Help me to be better and more pleasing to You at all times instead of just when I have followers around me. Help me to live in spiritual integrity, so that even when I am around those that aren’t followers, I still act in a way that is pleasing to You.
PROMISE (verse 17): In this verse, You promise us that we are a new creation in Christ. You promise us that our old selves have passed away and that new things have come. I think the part that I struggle with at times in this verse is the word “look” right in the middle of that. You tell us that old things have passed away and “look” new things have come. I do struggle with the “look” piece as I have often not seen the “new things” You have promised in my life. Instead I often dwell in the past and keep my eyes on the things of old instead of the new creation You have made me. I know You have given us free will, which is why You are telling us to look at the new things here. We do not accept or obtain these “new things” in our new creation unless we actually keep our eyes on You through our faith. Thank You for this promise and the clarity on the promise, Father. Help me to keep my eyes on You throughout this life.
ATTITUDE (verse 7): This verse is part of our “Real Men Reality” statement and I didn’t know which verse it was until today. Thank You for revealing this to me, Father. Help me to live in an attitude that walks by faith and not by sight. I do struggle with living in a way that “needs” the proof, in a sense, of my works. A way that requires results from my actions, just like I get when I’m working. This is not the way You expect me to live out my faith. You tell us to “walk by faith and not by sight” which has been a struggle for me in my spiritual journey. Help me to be better at this, Father, so that when I do walk in this life I maintain a joyous attitude of faith and begin to slowly but surely lose my dependence on sight.
COMMAND (verse 20): Quite a simple command, yet this has also been a struggle of mine since coming to faith. You command us to be “ambassadors for Christ.” I have struggled in my life every so often with being a good and true ambassador for Christ in all that I am and all that I do. Have I gotten better recently since joining the Real Men 300? I definitely have. Am I where I think You want me to be at this point in my spiritual journey? I don’t think so. Help me to truly understand and embrace what it means to be an ambassador for Christ in this life, Father, so that I may be a vessel of kingdom expansion for Your glory.
EXAMPLE (verses 1-5): The example You’ve provided right at the start of this scripture essentially showcases how I should be living my life but at the same time how I have been living my life. You tell us that this life is temporary and that our eternal dwelling is in the heavens. You tell us that we may groan in this body, but we are expected to desire to put on our dwelling from heaven. You tell us that we groan in our current home with burdens, but that we are to celebrate the fact that mortality has been swallowed up by eternal life. You gave us the Spirit as a down payment on all of this and we are to live in a relationship with the Spirit so that our earthly life is not in vain. Thank You for this amazing example of living for You, Father. Help me to be better.
*DAILY NOTE: There is so much in this scripture, I really don’t know what to say. You’ve given examples, commands, promises, advice, convictions, counsel, and practical examples all in only 21 verses of scripture. Thank You for always coming at me with what I need in the moment, Father. Your words may be like daggers at times, but they are necessary to chip away the bad parts of the clay in my life. Thank You for always knowing what to say to me when I need it. Thank You for providing such an amazing example and gift of Jesus Christ. Also, thank You so much for illuminating to me where the Real Men Reality statement that we us got the words “walk by faith and not by sight.” Having the scripture reference gives me reinforcement to why I’ve memorized it and am slowly but surely living by it.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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